Tiago Almeida’s article, “Calculate Design System Value via Cost Savings,” offers a practical framework for estimating the return on investment (ROI) of design systems by quantifying the cost savings they provide. Almeida begins by calculating the average hourly cost of an employee, using a hypothetical annual salary of €140,000 to determine an hourly rate of €67. He then assesses the cost of developing a medium-complexity component, such as the “PandoraBox,” estimating it requires 30 hours of work, totaling €2,019. 
To illustrate the value of a design system, Almeida compares this cost to the expense incurred if multiple teams were to create the same component independently. Assuming other teams take 150% more time, the cost per team rises to €3,028. If 20 teams were to develop the component separately, the total cost would be €60,570, whereas using the design system results in a single development cost of €2,019, leading to a potential saving of €58,551 for just one component. Extrapolating this to a design system with 80 components, the cumulative savings could amount to approximately €4.68 million. Additionally, Almeida calculates that this approach could save around 69,600 hours of work, equivalent to 33 full-time work years, emphasizing the significant efficiency gains design systems can offer. 
